Tuesday's Thoughts

Twins Notes

Twins lose to the Toronto Blue Jays, 6-2.

Johan Santana showed that he was infact human after the all-star break and gave up 4 home runs (including two to the "Big Hurt") and 6 runs in his 2nd loss in a row. Ramon Ortiz and Juan Rincon pitched the final 3 innings and combined to not allow a hit.

Justin Morneau must love the attention he is getting in Canada. The AL MVP went 2-4 with 2 HR's and 3 RBI's. They were his 27th & 28th home runs of the season. Torii Hunter also added his 21st home run of the season.

Besides Mauer's 2 hits, the rest of the lineup was very quiet. The other 6 combined to go 4-23 with 6 men left on base. The Twins really need to add someone to the bottom of our lineup to pick up some of the slack when Cuddyer is out and so that we don't have to keep relying on our 3-5 batters game in and game out.

The Twins will send Scott Baker to the mound who hopefully can duplicate his last two outings, but, the Twins will need to have some more help on offense for them to win. Dustin McGowan will start for the Blue Jays.

Minor League Notes

Rochester Red Wings beat the Ottawa Lynx, 9-3. (Game 1)
The Red Wings got exactly what they wanted from their starter today, go late into the game to protect the rotation for the doubleheader. Brian Duensing pitched a 7 inning complete game. The 24 year old southpaw gave up 3 runs (2 earned) on 108 pitches. Alexi Casilla hit his 3rd Home Run of the season. Jose Morales had 2 hits to improve his average to .354. Chris Heintz had 2 hits and his his 7th RBI. Brian Buscher also had two hits, as did Tommy Watkins. Trent Oeltjen had 3 RBI's in the game. Denard Span has really improved his hitting after starting the season hitting .214 & .212 in April & May. In June he hit .290 and so far in July he's hitting .286. The young outfielder has also recently talked to Twins Center Fielder, Torii Hunter. I love how these two have connected away from the field and hopefully Hunter will be here to mentor Span for many years to come. Span finished the game with 2 hits and 3 RBI's.

Rochester Red Wings beat the Ottawa Lynx, 4-3. (Game 2)
In just his 4th game started (and first in AAA), the Red Wings couldn't have really asked a lot out of Jay Sawatski. The 25 year old went 3 innings and gave up 3 runs on 6 hits. The bullpen took over after that. And they did a great job. Jason Miller went 2 innings of scoreless ball. Julio DePaula also went 2 innings of scoreless ball before handing the ball off to closer Bob Korecky for his 26th save of the season. DePaula picked up the win, it was his 8th of the season. Chris Heintz had another good game. This time he went 2-3 with 2 RBI's and his 1st Home Run of the season. Brian Buscher had 3 hits in this game and in just 8 AB's he raised his average from .297-.321. Great day for him. Denard Span also had a good game/day and went 1-3 with his 37 RBI in this game.

New Britain Rock Cats vs. the Connecticut Defenders.
Game postponed due to rain.

Ft. Myers Miracle beat the Lakeland Flying Tigers, 4-1.
Jeff Manship has been great all year, and nothing changed on Monday. The 22 year old pitched another gem to add onto his remarkable season. On Monday, he went 7 innings and gave up 1 run on 6 hits while striking out 12. He is showing his stuff and hopefully can join his friends Oswaldo Sosa & Yohan Pino in AA real soon. Armando Gabino pitched 2 innings to pick up his 4th save of the season. Brian Dinkelman continued his great play, the 2nd baseman went 1-4 with 2 runs scored and a walk. Juan Portes had 3 of the 7 hits and he also drove in a run. Erik Lis had 2 RBI's.

Beloit Snappers beat the Great Lakes Loons, 7-6 .
The Snappers needed 10 innings, but none-the-less they still got the win. Brian Kirwan didn't have that bad of a game, but he couldn't avoid the big inning and gave up 5 runs in the 5th inning. He was relieved by struggling Jose Lugo who had his best appearance in quite some time. He pitched 2 innings of scoreless relief. Aaron Craig gave up an unearned run in 1 inning of relief. Anthony Slama came on and pitched 2+ innings to pick up his 1st win of the season for the Snappers. He allowed just one hit and struck out 4 in the process. Steven Singleton picked up 2 RBI's in the contest. Yancarlos Ortiz, Joe Benson, and Garrett Olson drove in one apiece. Chris Parmelee had a great game, having 3 hits and 2 runs including the game winner. In the bottom of the 10th inning Parmelee singled to begin the inning, Parmelee advances to 2nd on a sac bunt, the next batter was walked, then Parmelee advances to 3rd on a balk and then Singleton hits a sacfly to left field to drive in Parmelee from 3rd and to win the game.

GCL Twins vs. the GCL Orioles.
Game postponed due to rain.

Elizabethton Twins lost to the Johnson City Cardinals, 3-0.
The game was called in the bottom of the 6th inning due to rain, but the game is official and the Twins couldn't get enough run support to help pull Michael McCardell out of a 3-0 deficite. McCardell went 5 innings and gave up 3 runs on 7 hits but on a positive note, he struck out 8 batters and walked none. Estarlin De Los Santos had 1 of the two Twins hits. Wesley Connor had the other hit which was his 6th double of the season.